1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the treatment of engine coolants and more particularly pertains to a coolant filtering arrangement which may be selectively installed within an existing coolant system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of filtering arrangements in vehicle cooling systems is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,266, which issued to Titch et al. on Nov. 8, 1988, discloses a filter for removing particles from the fluid of a coolant or other fluid circulation system. In this regard, the filter comprises a magnetic element which is designed to remove ferromagnetic particles from the coolant and further includes a plurality of filtering screens designed to remove particles larger than a selected size. Additionally, a filter bypass system is provided to allow the coolant fluid to continue circulating on through the filter when the screens become impermeable.
Another type of coolant filter is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,891 which issued to Cheadle et al. on Nov. 8, 1988. This patent discloses a filter device for an engine coolant which includes a housing having an inlet for inflow of coolant and an outlet for outflow. A filter in the flow path filters the coolant, and the construction of this device substantially resembles that of an oil filter utilizable with an internal combustion engine. A novel yet expensive feature of this device is the use of a corrosion inhibitor disposed within the filter and which is designed to disintegrate by corrosion when the coolant in the flow path has a corrosiveness above a predetermined level, thereby to release a dosage of corrosion inhibitor into the coolant.
While both of these above-described devices are functional for their intended purposes, it can be appreciated that the complexity of design of each of these devices most likely would result in a high manufacturing expense which could account for the fact that neither of these devices appear to be presently commercially available. Accordingly, there appears to exist a continuing need for a new and improved coolant filtering system which could be inexpensively manufactured and which could be easily operably attached to an existing coolant system in a vehicle. In this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.